Elon Musk’s influence on the war: he cut off Ukraine’s Internet while attacking the Russian fleet

A new biography of Elon Musk reveals more about the tycoon’s influence in the war between Ukraine and Russia. SpaceX, the space company founded by Musk, has cut off the Starlink satellite Internet service for Ukrainian underwater drones. just as they launched an attack on the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. The episode occurred last year, according to an excerpt from a book written by Walter Isaacson, former chief executive cnnwhich goes on sale next week.

Ukrainian underwater drones loaded with explosives approached the Russian fleet in September 2022. Suddenly, however, “they lost contact and were washed ashore harmlessly,” Isaacson writes in his biography, Elon Musk. Musk secretly ordered his engineers to shut down the Starlink satellite communications network within a 100-kilometer radius of the Crimean coast.

Musk’s decision, which left Ukrainian officials begging him to turn the satellites back on, was motivated by fears that Russia would retaliate with a nuclear attack, Isaacson said. He intended to avoid a “major act of war,” Musk, who is also the leader of Tesla and X (formerly Twitter), said on Thursday, confirming his intervention.

Musk’s version has one key difference: According to him, the Internet system never worked. The richest man in the world announced this in his profile on the page. According to Musk, if SpaceX had accepted the request, it would have been “clearly complicit” in the escalation of the conflict.

Elon Musk and the extent of his intervention in Ukraine

This episode reveals the unique position in which Elon Musk found himself during the war in Ukraine. “Intentionally or not, he became a power broker that US officials could not ignore,” the statement said. cnn in a preview of Isaacson’s book.

Starlink already has about 4000 satellites in low orbits, which offer satellite Internet to more than a million users in nearly 33 countries. Due to the nature of its services, it has the ability to work in remote areas.

Russia disrupted Ukraine’s communications systems shortly before its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Musk agreed to provide millions of dollars worth of satellite terminals to Ukrainians. SpaceX privately sent trucks with Starlink docking antennas to the conflict zone. This allowed Ukrainian troops to stay in touch.

Ukrainians took advantage of the service for armed attacks. They used it, for example, to activate combat drones. “How am I doing in this war?”Musk asked Isaacson, according to an excerpt from the biography. “Starlink was not designed to fight in wars. “This was done so that people could watch Netflix, relax, go online to go to school, and do good, peaceful things rather than attack drones.”

Isaacson confirms that Musk has had high-level conversations with Russian, US and Ukrainian officials about his participation in the war. “I just want you, a person who is changing the world through technology, to know this.”Mikhail Fedorov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, told him in a text message about the capabilities of his underwater drones last September. This was a request to reconnect. Musk refused.

Business in the midst of war

The conflict also revolved around who would pay for the Starlink terminals. Musk went on to say that SpaceX spent tens of millions of its own money sending satellite assets to Ukraine. According to a report from cnn In October 2022, Musk notified the Pentagon that he would no longer pay the bills.

However, Musk changed his mind after the report was made public. “To hell with all this… We will continue to fund the Ukrainian government for free,” he said. tweet last year. The change in attitude infuriated SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, the biography said.

“The Pentagon was literally ready to give me a check for $145 million,” According to Isaacson, Shotwell said. “So Elon gave in to the Twitter bullshit and the Pentagon haters who leaked the story.” SpaceX eventually agreed to pay Ukraine another 100,000 new satellite dishes in early 2023.

The book contains an exchange of messages between Musk and Federov, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine. Fedorov insisted that Starlink allow Ukraine to use the service to conduct military operations in Russian-controlled regions in the south and east.

“The risk of World War III is becoming very high…”, Musk responded. “Russia will stop at nothing,” “This poses a catastrophic risk to the world,” “Seek peace while you have an advantage,” were other statements from the billionaire to the Ukrainian official.

In addition to 100,000 new satellite dishes, Musk agreed to launch an additional service called Starshield. which was developed specifically for military use. SpaceX has licensed Starshield satellites and services to the US military and other agencies. This allowed the government to decide how they could be used in Ukraine and other countries.

The role of Elon Musk and the influence of Russia

After the episode with Starlink and Ukrainian underwater drones surfaced, the Pentagon issued a contract with SpaceX, reports Washington Post. Details of the agreement are unknown. A US government agency spokesman, Jeff Jurgenson, justified the secrecy on the basis of the “critical nature of these systems.”

Brian Weeden, director of program planning for the non-governmental organization Secure World Foundation, explained mail that this type of alliance allows the government to take advantage of the enormous innovative power emerging from the private sector. “The other side of the coin is that “This gives a lot more power to the private sector and in particular to the billionaires who control these companies and technologies.”he added.

Wyden said the Starlink contract should allow the Pentagon to gain more control. This will likely prevent Musk from suddenly deciding to shut down the service again.

Concerns about Musk’s political influence extend beyond Starlink’s reach and involvement on the battlefield. NATO published a report in June in which it ensures that governance Elon Musk’s leadership of Twitter has caused a “dramatic increase in the visibility” of Russia. The alliance’s report confirms that “weak moderation” on the social network has increased the reach of Kremlin posts by 60% since March this year.

SpaceX remains a key player

Musk comes and goes. Although SpaceX announced in October 2022 that it would continue to support the communications system in Ukraine, in February SpaceX announced that it would take action to prevent the Ukrainian military from continuing to use Starlink Internet.

“It was never intended to be turned into a weapon.”” said Gwynne Shotwell, director of Starlink, at the time. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken admitted in February that he had held another round of talks with Elon Musk about his satellite service in Ukraine.

After all, Starlink’s influence in the war did not diminish. The United States and its allies last week accused Russian hackers of attacking the communications of Ukrainian commanders. In accordance with cnnThe Ukrainians claim that the Russians’ malicious code was designed to intercept data transmitted to Starlink satellites.